Soap Bits or cloth diaper soap recipe?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Genny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
3,746
Reaction score
943
Location
NW Wisconsin
I'm trying to find a recipe for a soap to clean my son's cloth diapers in. We've tried different brands of laundry detergent, but he gets rashes from them fairly quickly. I really don't want to have to buy the more expensive soaps that are just for cloth diapering.

So, I was hoping maybe someone here has a recipe they are willing to share, or can point me in the right direction.

Also, does anyone here know what "soap bits" are made of? They're for using as a diaper wipes solution, but I'm trying to figure out what they're made of.

Thanks
 
soap bits is just MP base with water added. You can make your own for less, but be aware that anytime you add water to a product you will need a preservative.
 
Do they still have soap flakes in the grocery store laundry aisle? That's what I used when my kids were babies to wash their diapers. I ran a couple extra hot rinses to make sure it was all rinsed out, but the diapers were soft and white. I always hung them outside except for the worst winter days. I can still smell that wonderful sun-dried smell. :)

I found these online. Sounds similar to what I used to use.

http://www.soap-flakes.com/purchase.html

Of course, now I would just grate my own. If you don't make soap and can't find soap flakes, you could grate some purchased plain soap. I always soaked the diapers in borax, then used washing soda along with the flakes.

Good luck finding a solution for your little one.
 
http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... id&start=0

This is what I use for my nappies. For all of our washing actually. I don't treat the nappies any differently to normal clothing.
I used coconut oil. If u read down a bit you'll see the coconut oil recipe.

As for the cubes, I don't use them. I use liquid castile watered down & put it in a foamy bottle. Works a treat. Or water down theliquid castile & put it in a water bottle/sauce bottle type bottle. Perfect for re usable wipes, assuming this is what u want them for.

Myself i don't like the idea of the melt & pour cubes & would never buy them. What a rip off!!! You could u any cube of soap melted in hot water. Why use M&P? May as well go natural/homemade.
No offence intented to anyone that sells these...this is just MO.
 
Thanks for the great responses you guys.

I'll try grating down one of my handmade soaps down and washing with that. I've thought about doing that for our regular laundry, but I for some reason I never thought about it for cloth diapers :oops:

Thanks Nattynoo for the recipe. I might give that a try on my next soaping weekend.

I didn't realize the soap bits were just mp soap. I for some reason thought they were some cloth like substance that disintegrated when they came in contact with water. I figured they had to be something more expensive for what most people charge for them.

I saw a very nice web store that sells many colors and scents (definitely not eo's) of them. Why would you want to put fo's or any scent in them?
When you're washing the baby's genital area with these, couldn't it cause irritation in little girls? Especially since they'd be used many times through out the day?
 
I agree with Genny. Fragrance isn't a very good idea for diapers IMO. The soap flakes I used in the good-ole-days were simple soap, not M and P with detergents, etc.
 
charlies soap is popular for diaper washing.

i use biokleen laundry detergent now- has a nice mild scent and a good price. order it from my coop.
 
I did what rubenycuqui does for cloth diapers. The vinegar was a good thing that we didn't start out using but it was a life saver. Also hanging the daipers outside was a big help.
 
I've been making my own diaper laundry soap ever since I posted the question. I love it. Just grated up some of my unscented soap, add borax & baking soda. So easy, plus I pay my 8 yr old dd .50 to grate the soap for me.
The first time I washed the diapers with it, I had to wash them about 5 times and double rinse each time, using vinegar in the rinse every other wash. The urine was so stuck in there because the laundry soap we were using, wasn't actually cleaning them. The water smelled so nasty for the first 3 washes. Then by the 5th, there was no smell.
Plus, after really reading our laundry soap container, there was this listed "contains a bleach like alternative."
So, I'm guessing the "bleach like alternative" was getting stuck in the diapers and when my son peed in them, it was causing a reaction. He was getting some pretty nasty rashes after one night of using one. It looked like we hadn't changed him in days :(
But now that we've been using what I made, all rashes are just a bad memory.
 
Back
Top